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March 24, 1931.

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C. FROESCH BUS Filed Nov. l5, 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Mar. 24,'19.31

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CHARLES FROESCH, OF TEANECK, NEW JERSEY,ASSIGNOR T0 INTERNATIONAL MOTOR COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ACORZORATION OF DELAWARE :BUS

Application led November 15, 1927. Serial No. 233,344.

The hicles o larly those of the bus, or commercial passenger carryingtype. Current and past practice has adhered to the conventional vehicleframe and chassi-s construction, wherein transversely extending axles atfront and rear carry the weight of the vehicle and the power unit isdisposed at the front of the chassis. This practice has been carriedover from the trend of pleasure car development and when applied tobuses of the larger class, results in unsatisfactory operation andmanufacturing limitations.

An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle constructionwherein the serious disadvantages and llimitations of the presentpractice are overcome. More particularly, the invention comprises theprovision of a vehicle, the construction of whichA renders the drivingand power units readily accessible and capable of being bodily removedwithout disturbing the body or chassis present invention relates to roadveconstruction. By reason of this construction '25 the steering of thevehicle is greatly improved and the interior, passenger carrying Yspaceis adapted to accommodate the easy loading and discharging ofpassengers.

A further obj ect of the invention is to provide a body in which thereis relatively eat head room even though the overall heig t of thevehicle is not greater th'an those now in use. rlhis is accomplished bydispensing with the through axles and dropping the Hoor to the loweravailable level.

Further objects will be apparent as the description proceeds inconnection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a plan view in section, showing the la out of the interiorof the vehicle and the disposition of the driving and power units.

Figure 2 is a plan view, partly insection, showing one type of drivingunit.

Figure 3 is a're'ar elevational view or a vehicle constructed inaccordance with the presentinvention.

l Figure 4c is a view in section showing another type oi driving unit.

Figure 5 a view in section showing a the passenger carrying type,particumodiiied suspension for the driving wheels.-

Referring to Figures 1 and 3 the design of the interior of the vehiclewill be readily apparent. a indicates the vehicle body formed with siderecesses b for receiving the front steering wheels c. Over theserecesses, longitudinal seats d are rovided, thus utilizing all space,not available for standing room, for seating space. At the front, and onone side of the body, a door e is provided and the usual controllingmechanism and operators seat f is formed opposite the door e.

'At the mid-section of the body, seats g are provided. Centrally of thebody, a door 72, is formed, this door serving as an exit while the frontdoor e serves as an entrance. Rearwardly of the door h, and on eitherside of the body, longitudinally extending recesses 'i are formed in thebody. Over these recesses side seats j are constructed leaving ampleystanding room between the two side seats.

The power unit 7c, in this instance comprising an internal combustionengine and electric generator for supplying current to suitably mounteddriving motors, is mounted transversely of the frame in a compartment kwhich forms a continuation of the body v lines and' is mounteddetachably atc2 so that it can be removed readily without disturbing thebody of the vehicle. By removing the electric connections between thedriving motors, controllin mechanism and the enerator. The gasoline tankis indicated by otted lines at k3 and may be mounted underv the floor ofthe vehicle. The com artment lc carries, in the roof thereof, radiatorsc yfor cooling the circulating fluid of the internal combustion engine,and exhaustv eductors la", for causing a circulation of air through theradiators by means of the engine exhaust. Since the entire compartmentis a unit, all of the auxiliary mechanism required for the power unit,such as radiators, etc., are bodily removable without disturbing theconnections between the respective elements.

It will be seen, from Figure 1, that the driving units are mountedindependently within the recesses z at either side of the rear loc ofthe vehicle.

- ing m is mounted,

sented by these driving units is suitably mounted in cushioning meanswithinuthe compartments z' and the driving units at either side of theframe are independent of one another. By dispensing with the usual axleconnecting the wheel-s at either side of the body, the ioor of thevehicle can be siderably and the head room thereof correspondinglyincreased. One form of driv` 'ing unit is illustrated in Figure 2,wherein a trunnion bracket s supports the electric motor m and housingm10. Protruding arms l, carried by brackets Z are connected to suitablelcushioning means, such as a pneumatic cylinder Z. In the constructionshown, there are two driving wheels in every compartment and individualdriving motors for each wheel. e driving motors are mounted on housingsm which are secured to the trunnion bearing s and connected to thepneumatic cushioning means Z and provided with extensions m10. The motorshaft m extends into the extensions m1 and carries bevel gears m2. Theextensions mi also carry double reduction gears ms and gears mtwhich aremounted upon jack shafts m5, the latter being Wholly mounted within thehousing extensions m10. This mechanism is unitary and serves to drivewheel m which is mounted upon the jack shaft m5'. As there are twowheels in either compartment, each housat one end, through suitablecushioning elements described above, and the two housings are tiedtogether at adjacent ends through telescoping tie-rod n, serving asa,lost-motion-connection. The elements of this tie-rod are pivotallysecured at n to suitable extensions m7 on the respective' housings fm..It -will be seen that the mounting of the driving wheels within thevcompartments in the manner described above provides a iioatingconstruction in which each wheel is an independent driving unit. Thebody is cushioned upon these driving units by the cushioning elements Zwhich mount kthe respective housings m thereon;

In Figure 4, a modified type of drive, and means for mounting thehousings upon the body are shown. A bracket o, corresponding to thebracket Zis provided with housings o' carrying blocks of yieldingnon-metallic'material, such as rubber. The motor housin fm. are providedwith rearwardly exten ing arms o2 which extend within the housings `oand are seated within the yielding material carried thereby. Thismounting permits pivotal movement of the housings m with respect to thebracket o. The motor housin m, with itsextensions m10 carries a modifiFof drive, wherein spur gears p, driven from the motor shaft p supplypower to the full iioating jack shaft p2 which drives the Wheel p3. Thedriven gear p is mounted upon a `drive shaft p* which drives the jackshaft p2 The unsprung `weight repre-` lowered conl ed form through bevelgears p". This drive enables the center line of the motor to coincidemore nearly withV the longitudinal center line of the driving wheel p3and reduces the twisting due to the reaction of the load on the wheel.

Figure 5 shows a modified mounting for the wheel-s, wherein the twowheels are tied together by a spring g mounted, at either end, inhousings g formed on the motor housings m and carrying blocks ofyielding non-metallic material g2 for cushioning either end of thespring. A bracket r is mounted upon the body of the vehicle within thecompartment z' and is formed with opposed seats 1" for receiving blocksof yielding non-metallic material r2. Seats 'rs are carried by thespring g and serve to mount the latter yieldingly to the frame throughthe blocks 7'2. By placing the hou-sings g beyond the vertical centerline of the wheel, a greater spring length is obtained and acorrespondingly better mounting results.

It will be seen from the above description, that the vehicle frame andbody are mounted at independent points through the driving and steeringwheels in a manner such that each element is readily accessible andindependent from the others. By this construction, the several elementscan be removed bodily and servicing of the vehicle is greatly improved.The construction of the interior of the body provides for ready loadingand discharging of passengers and frees it from the usual congestioncaused by the'pay load.

I claim as my invention 1. A vehicle comprising a body, a passen- .gercarrying portion, controlling means at the front of the body, a powerunit comprising an engine anda generator, a unitary compartment at therear of the body and forming a continuation of thel body, means to mountthe power unit in the compartment transversely of the vehicle, and meansto permit removal thereof of the compartment and power unit from thebody as a unit.

2. A vehicle comprising a body havin a. central aisle section, drivingwheels at eit er side thereof, driving means out of the central aislesection, means to mount the driving means with'the wheels, means toconnect the driving means pivotally at one point to the body, means tocushion the pivotal connection, and means to connect it at another pointto the body throu h a lost motion connection independent of the pivotaland cushioning connection.

3. -A vehicle comprising a body, a plurality of driving wheels at eitherside thereof, the wheels on one those on the other, means to connect thewheels at opposite sides of the wheel axes to the respective sides ofthe body and lost motion connections between the wheels at adjacentsides of the wheel axes of each side.

4. A vehicle comprising a body, a plurality side being independent` of.

of driving Wheels at either side thereof, housings carried with theWheels, independent driving means for each wheel in the housings,independent means to connect the housings to the body and a single meansto connect the housings together.

\ 5. A Vehicle comprising a body, a plurality of driving wheels ateither side thereof, housings carried with the Wheels, means to oonnectthe housings at one end to the body, driving means independent for eachWheel in the housings, means to drive the Wheels from the driving means,and means to connect the housings together at their adjacent ends.

6. A vehicle comprising a body, a plurality of independent drivingWheels at either side thereof, housings carried With the Wheels, motorsin the housings, ack shafts mounted at one end of the housings fordriving the 2n Wheels, means carried in the housings for connecting themotors to the jack shafts, means to connect the housings at one end tothe body, and a lost motion connection between the adjacent ends of thehousings.

er, 7. A vehicle comprising a body, a plurality of independent drivingWheels at Veither side thereof, driving motors, housings therefor, meansto connect the housings to the body, offset extensions secured to thehousings, driving connections in the extensions, jack shafts carried bythe extensions, Wheels driven from the shafts, and means to connect theextensions together.

8. In a vehicle having dual rear axles and independent driving Wheelsfor each axle, means to connect thevvheels on the same side of thevehicle to permit relative movement therebetween, and motors with theiraxes in line and parallel to the plane of the Wheels 4o on each side-ofthe vehicle, one motor driving each Wheel.

9. The combination as claimed in claim 8 wherein the motors areunsprung. s

This specification signed this 24th day of 47 October, A. D. 1927.

CHARLES FROESCH.

